As the dust quite literally settles upon the inaugural Indian GP at the Buddh International Race Circuit in Delhi, we can now look at how F1 did in the country that has over 1.2 billion people. The teams first touched down on Thursday, and initial reactions weren’t great. A few drivers, including Timo Glock, Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen all posted their unhappiness with the struggle to secure a visa to enter to country.

“I had a bit of a feeling that the Indians didn’t really want to see us,” said Virgin driver Timo Glock quoted by Germany’s T-Online.

“I hope the fans take us closer to the heart than the local immigration authorities did,” he added.

Finn Heikki Kovalainen was also annoyed: “I had to fill in about 70 pages of paperwork. It’s unreal how complicated it was.”
Contrasting to the driver’s moods, Speed Week correspondent Mathias Brunner stated that once he was in possession of a visa, Indian was a piece of cake to enter, and also managed to describe just how scary driving in India is.

Indian GP

“If you’re thinking of yourself driving a car in India — don’t do it!” said a laughing Brunner.

“The typical Indian driver honks with one hand and talks on the phone and gestures with the other. There’s not much capacity left to steer,” he added.

“And I have never in my life seen such a dirty city. The rubbish lying on the streets beggars description, as though the garbage men are on continuous strike.”

So it was very much a marmite welcome to the country that had promised so much, thankfully, then, the weekend of F1 sort-of made up for it. It was busy as usual in Formula 1 as Sebastian Vettel made Saturday and Sunday boring for all as he dominated as per. Only Jenson Button could half keep up with the German, as he continues to break record after record.

Despite the boring race, most of the drivers loved the track – especially Michael Schumacher who not only had a great race himself but managed to beat his team-mate, Rosberg.

Let’s hope next year’s event can be a little more exciting and with a Brit on the top step. No biased views here, honest. If you’re interested in F1 as a general rule please check out Netcars.com where you can find more articles to engage with.